Career and Tech students engage in place-based, scientific learning in Central America

WASILLA — At the end of last month, 20 Mat-Su Career and Technical High School students embarked on a 16-day adventure in Central America to learn place-based science and earn school credit.

Career and Tech science teacher Tim Lundt, along with history teacher Zack Lanphier and Wasilla Middle School math teacher Vonda Best, led the students on an educational journey through Belize and Guatemala to gain knowledge about Mayan culture, rainforest and marine biology for a half-credit ecology course.

The group arrived in Belize City on May 25, then traveled four hours by bus to Peten, Guatemala. There they stayed at Hotel Gringo Perdido located on Lake Peten, snuggled up against the Mayan rainforest.

Since most everyone in the area spoke Spanish, Career and Tech students had to use what they learned in school to communicate with hotel staff and tour guides. One student, Mikara Klawitter — who had studied multiple years of Spanish — became the group’s interpreter, assisting her teachers with directions as well as questions about the country and the local food.

In the first few days, students explored the Mayan temples of Tikal, Petencito Zoo, ARCAS Wildlife Rescue Center, Cerro Biotope Cahui Nature Reserve and the town of Flores. Students also conducted water tests on Lake Peten and got firsthand experience with insects that live in the rainforest, such as large cockroaches and moths that only appear when the lights go off.

After four days in Guatemala, students boarded the buses and traveled back to Belize. Another long bus ride later — without air conditioning — students arrived at Blue Creek Rainforest in the southern part of the country.

As soon as the bus stopped, the group was greeted by 30 Mayan children wanting to carry everyone’s bags the half mile to the International Zoological Expedition’s facilities. It is customary to let the children carry bags in return for a $5 US tip. The Mayan people of this area are some of the poorest in the country. They have no running water, most don’t have electricity and many of their houses still have dirt floors. Thus, the children will give the money they earn to their parents.

The next three days in the rainforest were packed with scientific activities that included water testing of the river, exploring the Hokeb Ha Cave system, swimming in Blue Creek Cave, going on a green iguana hunt and zip lining through the rainforest canopy.

In their spare time, students Lucas Adams and Joshua Bryant tried catching the rare Machaca fish with Adams finally landing a 14-incher. The Machaca inhabits the rivers in the area and is a relative of the piranha, but is not carnivorous.

Lundt and three students, Amanda Mayer, Klawitter and Olivia Kilborn, had the rare opportunity to visit Silvano Sho, a local Mayan who is an expert on local plants and their medicinal properties. The girls recorded and took notes about the 25 different plants they spotted in hopes that they could develop a book to be sold and raise money for the local village.

Students were surprised with the small amount of insects in the Blue Creek rainforest, but plenty of snakes were out — including a fer-de-lance that got a little too close for comfort and had to be killed by Lanphier.

The journey continued as students loaded up the bus and headed to Hopkins, a small, coastal Garifuna community, for a little culture and lunch that included listening to traditional Garifuna drummers.

From there students headed to Dangriga with a stop at Marie Sharp’s hot sauce factory. Students toured the factory, tasted multiple products and purchased several items as gifts. Last April, Marie Sharp was voted into the Hot Sauce Hall of Fame and is currently the only female that has received that honor.

Later, students got onto two boats and headed to South Water Caye for the next nine days.

On South Water Caye, students snorkeled every day on different reefs. Students learned about the different types of reefs (fringing, barrier, patch and atolls), invasive species like the lionfish, climate change and its effects on the reefs, as well as tree identification and measurement. Students also conducted research on a variety of topics, such as the feeding habits of stingrays, aggressive behavior in damselfish associated with color and why fish form schools.

Shania Best, who went on a similar trip with Lundt in 2014, came back this year specifically to snorkel around the Bread and Butter patch reef, a shallow-water reef with calm waters perfect for invertebrates like sea stars, sea biscuit urchin, and sea cucumbers.

Several students had the opportunity to learn how to scuba dive, which allowed the students to view turtles, nurse sharks and other marine life up close.

“Belize is a wonderful place and snorkeling was very interesting as well as educational,” Best said. “Being able to see all the different kinds of ocean life is a great experience and I am very thankful I was able to do this.”

When the students weren’t in the classroom or out snorkeling, they were divided into five groups of four for several “Survivor” games that required each team to work together to do a variety of tasks using both physical and mental strength and coordination. No student was “voted off the island,” nor was $1,000,000 offered to the winning team, but they did learn what competition brings out in each other, and were rewarded with cold soda pop and candy bars.

The final activity for the students was a test on what they learned during their stay in Belize and Guatemala. The great times and experiences ended on June 9 with a final boat ride and a bus ride to the airport.

“I loved this trip, the experience was great!” Klawitter said. “We learned so much and got to meet so many wonderful people. Being able to interact with all the native children of Belize and to experience the culture was a whole new world. I hope to go back someday.”

Tim Lundt is a science teacher at Mat-Su Career and Technical High School. He can be reached at Timothy.Lundt@matsuk12.us.